Daryl Braithwaite

2017 Inductee: Daryl Braithwaite

Daryl Braithwaite rose to national fame as the lead singer of Sherbet, a band that epitomised the sound of Australian pop in the 1970s. With the success of his subsequent solo career, Braithwaite has become one of Australia’s most enduring performers whose contribution to the music industry spans over four decades. 

Braithwaite was born in Melbourne in 1949, and moved with his family to Sydney in 1963, where he sang in a number of local bands. He completed an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner in 1969, but a career in music beckoned. In 1970 Braithwaite was asked to join Sherbet, with whom he recorded now classic hit singles ‘Summer Love’ in 1975 and ‘Howzat’ in 1976. He also launched a solo career in 1974 with the release of ‘You’re My World’, which went to number one on the Australian charts. He continued as frontman for Sherbet (later known as The Sherbs) until the group disbanded in 1984.

After a break from the music industry, Braithwaite made a chart-topping return in 1988 with the album Edge. With four hit singles including ‘As the Days Go By’, the album spent over a year in the national charts. This was soon followed by another successful album Rise in 1991, which included the major hit, Braithwaite’s cover version of Ricky Lee Jones’ ‘The Horses’. 

In 1992 Braithwaite collaborated with Jef Scott, Simon Hussey and James Reyne on the album Company of Strangers. Then after the release of his album Taste the Salt in 1993, Braithwaite toured extensively as a solo artist and performed for numerous Sherbet reunions. He released Snapshot in 2005 and The Lemon Tree in 2008. On re-signing with Sony Music Australia in 2013 he recorded his most recent album Forever the Tourist.